#Industry

Controversy has erupted online over the Wounded Warrior Project not wanting to appear on Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk radio show because they don’t want anything to do with firearms. This must be a new policy because they co-branded the AAC Big Bang Party party I attended in 2010.

The famed original AK maker Izhmash is on the brink of collapse. Production of sporting rifles has stopped, export contacts cannot be fulfilled and skilled workers are leaving the company. Mikhail Kalashnikov and 16 colleagues have written an open letter to President Putin pleading for his intervention to prevent the company collapsing.

After trying in vain for months to get hold of a DoubleTap pistol to review on TFB ever since SHOT Show, Phil White and I began to suspect something was up. Raymond B. Kohout, the inventor of the DoubleTap, has announced that he has terminated his relationship Heizer Defense, his manufacturing partner, because of their inability to manufacture the pistol. He is now looking for another manufacturer.

A group of “Art-Activists”, who call themselves The Centre for Political Beauty, are raising money on IndieGoGo to fly a helicopter over the H&K factory and dump cement on it. They have raised over 3,500 €. They explain their plan in this video …

Last year I ran an almost identical poll. I will be comparing the results from this poll and last year’s poll and publishing them.

In their latest newsletter, BudsGunShop.com revealed their top selling guns of 2012 (which are currently in stock) …

I am outraged at how a Hoosier woman was treated by a Walmart in Clarksville, IN. Prayse Dangler, who is married to a solider, was worried about protecting herself when her husband was out of town. She went to Walmart, with her husband, to buy a shotgun. From Prayse’s Facebook page …

Ruger sent out a press release congratulating themselves on producing their 1 millionth firearm of the year on 15 August. Normally it takes them all year to produce 1 million guns.

In 2001 Glock applied to trademark their pistol design. The trademark application was approved in 2009 (Serial Number 76279422). Glock’s application states that this design was not used by anyone before 1995, so this trademark must be for the third generation Glock which went on sale in 1996.

Scott Blackwell has been named the President of Freedom Group. Scott left Beretta USA in 2006 to become the President of Bushmaster and in 2010 was promoted to the position of FGI’s Chief Sales & Marketing Officer.

Defence & Freedom has posted a collection of YouTube videos about Gun Drilling. Gun Drilling is a process that allows long but straight small diameter holes to be drilled into metals. It was originally developed to drill out gun barrels, but now has many industrial uses.

Google and the Igarape Institute and the Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers teamed up to develop this beautiful visualization of small arms, light weapons and ammunition transfers between 1992 and 2010. The visualization requires a modern web browser and graphics card that supports WebGL. I suggest using Chrome or Firefox.

BAE Systems has sold back tactical/LE gear, body armor and firearm accessory maker Safariland to investment firm Kanders And Company. Kanders sold Safariland to BAE five years ago.

Reuters has published a fascinating look into Filipino gun industry that is transforming from illegal backyard workshops to legal factories. The factory highlighted in the article, Shooters Arms Manufacturing, manufactures guns for American Tactical Imports.

From the press release …